Legal Aspects of married

requirement (n.) – требование;

to forbid (v.) – запрещать;

bigamy (n.) – двоежёнство;

pregnant (adj.) – беременная;

obligation (n.) – обязанность, долг

fraud (n.) – мошенничество;

lack of consent – нехватка согласия;

guilty (adj.) – виновный;

to espouse (v.) – выходить замуж, выдавать замуж;

excommunicate (n.) - изгнанник, отверженный.

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In legal terms, marriage is a contract between two persons who agree to live together as husband and wife. It creates legal rights and duties for each party. Anyone who wants to get married must meet certain legal requirements.

In the United States, marriage laws are set by the individual states. The legal rules vary from state to state. However, all states have the following requirements:

· Age. A couple must meet certain age requirements. Usually, females must be 16 and males 18. Some states allow younger couples to get married if their parents consent. Some states also allow people under the minimum age to marry if the female is pregnant.

· Relationship. Every state forbids marriage between close relatives. It is illegal for a person to marry his or her parent, child, grandparent, grandchild, brother, sister, uncle, aunt, niece, or nephew. Many states also prohibit marriages between first cousins. Marrying or having sexual relations with a close relative is a crime known as incest.

· Two people. Marriage is between two persons only. Marrying someone who is already married is illegal. Having more than one husband or wife is a crime known as bigamy.

· Man and woman. Marriage is a relationship between a man and a woman. Marriages between two persons of the same sex have traditionally been considered invalid.

· Consent. Both persons must agree to the marriage. No one can be forced to marry someone against his or her will. For example, no one can be forced to marry someone at gunpoint.

As a rule, if a marriage is legal in one state, it will be recognized as legal in all other states. However, if a couple goes through a wed­ding ceremony without meeting the requirements for a legal mar­riage, the marriage may be annulled. Annulment is a court order saying that the marriage never existed. It is different from a di­vorce, which is a court order that ends a valid marriage. In other words, a divorce means that a man and a woman are no longer hus­band and wife. An annulment means that a man and a woman were never husband and wife.

The grounds for annulment vary from state to state, but common reasons for annulment include the following:

· Age. The couple was too young to get married.

· Bigamy. One spouse was already married.

· Fraud. One spouse lied to the other about an important matter, such as the desire to have children.

· Lack of consent. One spouse was forced to marry against his or her will, was too drunk to understand that a wedding was taking place, or was insane.

Laws place many restrictions on marriage. Laws prescribe who can marry, some of the obligations created by marriage, and how marriage can be ended. However, states cannot prohibit marriage between healthy adults without a good reason.

Most marriages in the United States take place in a church or syn­agogue. In America, customs and religious traditions play an impor­tant role in married life. However, these customs and traditions sometimes run afoul of the law.

In 1878, George Reynolds, a Mormon living in Utah, was arrested and charged with the crime of bigamy. At the time, the Mormon reli­gion regarded plural marriages as a religious obligation. Mormons then believed that refusal to practice polygamy when circumstances permitted would lead to "damnation in the life to come." Reynolds ar­gued that the ant bigamy law violated his constitutional right to freedom of religion. After his conviction, he appealed his case to the U.S. Supreme Court.

In the case of Reynolds u. United States, the Supreme Court upheld the antibigamy law. It ruled that religious belief cannot justify an illegal act. Reynolds could believe anything he wanted, but he could not put into practice a belief that society condemned. (Today, the Mormon church condemns polygamy and excommunicates mem­bers who espouse it.)

Ex. 1. Find the equivalents for the following words and expressions in the text:

брачная церемония, предписывать, синагога, двоеженство, обстоятельства, осуждение, согласие, сталкиваться с законом, мошенничество, кровосмешение, ограничения.

Ex. 2.Match the words on the left with the correct definition on the right:

Husband	when a marriage is ended by an official or legal process
Wife	the man to whom a woman is married
Annul	the woman to whom a man is married
Di­vorce	to officially announce that something such as a law, agreement, or marriage no longer exists
Polygamy	custom of having more than one wife at the same time.
Relationships	way in which two people, countries, etc behave towards or deal with each other.
Prohibit	stop something from being done or used, especially by law.
Condemn	say that you disapprove of something/ somebody.

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